What to know about ‘ghost guns,’ the weapon allegedly tied to the CEO shooting – NBC New York
The man arrested Monday in connection to the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was allegedly in possession of a type of homemade weapon known as a “ghost gun.”
Luigi Mangione, 26, who police named as a “strong person of interest” had a “ghost gun that had the capability of firing 9 mm round and a suppressor” when he was arrested on weapons charges in Altoona, Pa., New York Police Department Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told reporters.
A senior law enforcement official told NBC News the weapon found in Mangione’s possession appears to be similar to the weapon used in the Manhattan murder. Kenny said the weapon “may have been made on a 3D printer.”
“Ghost guns” are firearms that can be assembled at home from parts that are bought online. Those parts can usually be obtained without background checks and do not have serial numbers.
How long have ghost guns been around?
The do-it-yourself kits have been around since the 1990s, but have exploded in popularity in recent years — especially among criminals.
Between Jan. 2016 to Dec. 2021, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said it received approximately 45,000 reports of suspected privately made firearms recovered by law enforcement in criminal investigations — including 692 homicides or attempted homicides.
The number of ghost guns recovered rose steadily each of those years, from 1,758 in 2016 to 19,344 in 2021, according to the Justice Department.
Technology has also added to the steep increase – online videos on how to assemble the guns have millions of views, while some sellers offer 3-D printing files for customers to print and assemble the weapons themselves, and without serial numbers.
The Justice Department said in a 2022 fact sheet that unserialized firearms are incredibly difficult to trace — the ATF reported it was only able to trace 0.98% of the suspected ghost guns submitted by law enforcement to an individual purchaser.
Ghost guns are untraceable firearms put together using unregulated kits. Here’s what you should know.
What is the government doing on the issue?
In 2022, President Joe Biden announced restrictions on the sale of ghost guns with the finalization of a rule requiring makers of gun kits to include serial numbers on firearms and for sellers to follow the same standard as with other guns, including requiring a background check for purchase.
“These guns are the weapons of choice for many criminals,” Biden said, and “we are going to do everything we can to deprive them of that choice.”
Gun rights groups and manufacturers have challenged the ATF rule in court, with a federal judge in Texas and an appeals court ruling against the Biden administration. The Supreme Court has ruled twice that the regulations can remain in place while the litigation continues.
Gun safety advocates, meanwhile, have been urging Congress to take action on the issue to close loopholes and turn the rule into a law. Over a dozen states have also passed laws regulating ghost guns, according to Everytown for a Gun Safety, a gun violence prevention organization.
The group and others have also been urging Congress to take action on 3D-printed guns, which the Trump administration loosened regulations on in 2020. There is no federal law barring them, but the ATF says it’s illegal to make them for sale without a license, and that they must be able to be detected by metal detectors and X-ray machines. A number of states also have individual laws regulating or banning the weapons, according to Everytown.
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